'King of the Swindlers' Paul Bint jailed after posing as top barrister

Friday 27 June 2008 18:22 BST

King Con: Paul Bint, already serving a three-year sentence, was told to change his ways or risk a lifetime in jail

One of Britain's most notorious conmen who posed as a top QC to swindle a lover was jailed today.

Paul Bint - dubbed the 'king of the swindlers' for his 30-year career of deceit during which he had impersonated an aristocrat, a ballet dancer, banker, a doctor, playboy, policeman and property magnate - convinced Renata Zepletal that he was top QC Jonathan Reece.

But the 46-year-old's run is now at an end after being jailed for 12 months for two counts of fraud.

The court heard that the deceit started on March 17 this year when Bint conned Ms Zepletal into thinking that he was a top barrister.

Jill Beale, prosecuting said: 'He convinced her that he could be trusted and, on occasions, let him borrow her car.'

A judge heard that on March 23 this year, he took her car and filled it up with £25 worth of petrol at a Texaco garage with no means of paying.

Ms Beale said that when the petrol attendant asked him to provide payment, he said he would phone his wife to get her credit card number.

Judge Michael Hunter heard that the defendant already had the details which he had copied down from Ms Zepletal's credit card, and when he called her, he only asked what type of fuel he should put in the car.

The defendant was arrested by Surrey Police the same day, after Ms Zeplatal became suspicious and alerted officers.

The judge heard he was arrested for making false representation that he was able to pay at the petrol station, possession of the credit card details in order to fraudulently obtain credit, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

Bint, of Lawson Way, Sunningdale, Berks, appeared at Guildford Crown Court after being jailed by the Harrow Crown Court on April 15 this year for fraudulent representation.

The court heard that on this occasion, he had claimed items had been stolen from him on a train and a fellow passenger took pity on him after he claimed to be Jonathan Reece QC and he took advantage of their hospitality.

Bint's penchant for role-play first came to light in 1983 when it was discovered he had posed as a local doctor while touring hospital wards in the north-west of England.

During one incident, he groped a woman's breast and said 'trust me, I'm a doctor'.

He also arranged X-rays, attended a man whose lung had collapsed, put stitches into another patient's head wound and tried to bluff his way into a heart bypass operation.

In 1988, he was sentenced to four years in prison, at St Albans Crown Court, for conning a salesman out a £83,000 Ferrari, claiming he was the Duke of Arundel.

More recently, in August 2000, Newcastle Crown Court heard how Bint tricked rail chiefs into putting him up in a luxury hotel after claiming he was the eminent QC Lacklan Campbell-Brierdan, who was involved in the Lockerbie trial.

In total, he was believed to have committed more than 500 offences during his criminal career.

Defending Bint, Gavin Holme said that his client was trying to mend his ways but his background made it difficult.

'Mr Bint has such a reputation that he is unable to really exist in the real world.

'Current technology means that if anyone finds out his real identity they can find hundreds of articles detailing his past history.

'This has made it extremely hard to hold down relationships and employment.'

Mr Holme told the court that his client was currently in the hospital wing at her Majesty's prison Highdown, where he is being treated for depression.

Judge Michael Hunter said the 12-month sentence would run concurrently to the three-year sentence he had recently received from Harrow Crown Court.

'I'm sure you have been told in the past that you have an absolutely shocking record.

'If you don't stop now and you continue to offend on release, the likelihood is you will spend the rest of your life in prison.'

The offence of driving without a licence was also awarded with fixed penalty points and there was no separate penalty for driving while disqualified.